Episode 14: Nita - The Story of Nita

It was a long time before Nita found out what happened through the decrypted files; her father was an explosives expert for the Thoule Group, adept at creating demolition devices and weapons for a variety of purposes. Before coming to Thoule, he was also a highly decorated mercenary, having been risking his life countless times. His father was dissatisfied with the brutal rule of the Thoule Group, so he secretly cooperated with the Resistance, wanting to wait until the time was ripe to create a bombing similar to the assassination of Hitler and eliminate the entire Thoule Board. What he didn't know is that Nita's mother was a spy arranged by the group to spy on his words and actions. Years later, on a seemingly peaceful night, her mother put a gun to the back of his father's head and demanded that he hand over information about the Resistance's secret arsenal of weapons and contacts. After glancing back at his wife and daughter, the father desperately backhanded the silencer-equipped gun and then shot the mother dead. Coming to the terrified Nita, the father removed the mushroom-shaped pendant from his chest and hung it in front of her neck before whispering softly into her ear, "I'm sorry kiddo, I have to leave you now, someday you'll understand. "The father then slowly collapsed; it was the poison he had taken.

The automatic alarm was activated in Nita's house, and after the intelligent robot pulled Nita outside, there was a deafening explosion, the smoke from which took the shape of a mushroom in the sky.

According to the police investigation report, her father suffered from mental torture during his long career in the military and unfortunately suffered from PTSD. That day, the trailer of the war movie playing on the smart TV brought back bad memories, which caused him to have a PTSD tantrum, shoot his wife, and then detonate the house to kill himself - as an expert in demolition, this death makes perfect sense. Similar human tragedies are common among mercenary families, and the police have long been too numb to spend time on them. The Thoule Group had organized a decent funeral for the demolition expert couple. Oswin, who was present at the funeral, gave a speech, counting the significant contributions the demolition experts had made to the Group, and even shed a few crocodile tears in a hypocritical manner. But only Nita could see Oswin’s relieved expression. After sending off Nita to an orphanage, with her mushroom pendant, the Thoule Group is left to fend for themselves as if they had evaporated.

At the orphanage, Nita was often in conflict with the other orphans over the limited food, and she was often outmatched by the big and strong kids. The leader of the group, Chunk, even took her little mushroom pendant. Ever since her childhood, she has been a loner, but she has carefully planned her revenge, and this is the beginning of her killing career: she cleverly hid a miniature robot in the cake of the Chunk, and the little robot turned over his stomach. The unlucky little chunk tossed overnight, and died.

The little robot that Nita used was actually a smart device used by the teachers of the orphanage to patrol their bedrooms on duty. The theft of such a small device meant a serious dereliction of duty on the part of the teachers, and as a result, the old innocent man, and the teacher who was the best thing that could have happened to Nita were given a heavy fine. As the old man was taken away by the police, he cast an interesting glance at Nita: one of resentment and disappointment, but also understanding.

A great sense of guilt and fear drove Nita to run desperately. As she found her way back into her chamber, she rummaged through Chunk's belongings to find the pendant and then escaped all the way to the slums by the underground sewer lines of the affluent areas. She tried to blend in with a group of stray kids, but because of her long pampering in a middle-class neighborhood, she exuded an aura different from the kids. She was then chased out by the stray kids. Eventually, Nita could not stand it anymore and picked up a rusty piece of iron and threw it at one of the children, which ended up injuring the child. A few days later, the stray kid died from the infected wound, and Nita killed again. She was panicked and began to recklessly fly off the rails again. She made the mistake of breaking into a Berlichingen Gang stronghold full of psychos fitted with all sorts of strange mechanical prosthetics, scaring the hell out of her.

The Berlichingens took her in - not out of kindness, nor out of any bad taste. Her eyes and expression betrayed her. It was a demeanor that only someone who killed would have, and the veteran soldiers who had degenerated from mercenaries to bruisers could tell at a glance that she was definitely a good killer prospect. The Berlichingens abduct and capture orphans, then train them in force and destruction skills, instilling a violent mindset, and use them to form the Berlichingens’ reserve force: The Bandit Knights. These orphans later behave in an even more extreme and insane manner than the older members of the Berlichingens.

Nita was then sent to the secret training camp of the Bandit Knights, where she underwent intense training, body modification, and of course, brainwashing in violent ideology. Unlike the crude Berlichingen-style body modifications, the new generation of villains of the Bandit Knights uses new bionic devices that are traded in at high prices from the black market. The veteran doctors that the Berlichingens had kidnapped had implanted powerful bionic prosthetics in her body, as well as a neurochip to improve her combat reflexes. At the same time, she was injected with a variety of specially formulated biochemicals to strengthen her physical abilities and enhance her vision.

After undergoing biotech modifications, Nita had to face rigorous combat training. She was forced to learn to use a variety of hot and cold weapons, as well as shooting techniques and close combat. Her instructors would use psychotropic drugs to keep her in a combat frenzy. She also participated in many simulated missions, learning how to carry out assassinations, sabotage, looting, and other evil acts. As for the violent ideological indoctrination, it was nothing more than "The Berlichingen is the Robin Hood of the Cyber Age, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", "We are good, the Uranus are bad", "The Uranus are rotting day by day, and we're getting better day by day," " Kill all the Uranus’ lackey mercenary group "and other empty slogans. These veteran soldiers are not very educated. These are the only things they can come up with, which indeed gets quite boring over time.

After years of training and rehabilitation, Nita grew into a ruthless teenage killer. But her brutality is not instilled by the so-called "justice", but was a side effect of repeated stimulation by drug abuse. The slogans of "resisting the tyranny of the Uranus" are just white noises to Nita, and they cannot change her nature. On the contrary, various stimulants, hallucinogens, and enhancement drugs repeatedly erode her rationality, turning her into an irritable, impulsive, and brutal killing machine, in stark contrast to her cute appearance.

The urge to fight within Nita is magnified and fueled by drugs over and over. Killing and destruction became an instinct and a habit, even bringing twisted pleasure. Fighting and assassination became a way to vent violence. As the effects of the drug wear off, Nita's rationality warns her to stay away from this mind control. One day, she will choose of her own volition.

To no one's surprise, substance abuse and the bizarre body modifications of the Berlichingens accidentally inspire Nita's artistic talent. Amid the violence, she finds another kind of joy in graffiti. Under the influence of drugs, Nita often falls into trances and hallucinations. She would let go of her emotions by painting wherever she could. The walls and floors of the gang's base are covered with her paintings, as are her weapons and equipment. Nita isn't content with just scribbling away but is also inspired by the strange images she sees through drug illusions. Twisted, weird light patterns mixed with a desire for freedom become the theme of her work.

Doodling became Nita's only pastime between training and missions. As Garibaldi said, "Everyone has to find a way to escape reality." It is one of the reasons she later escapes from the Berlichingens.

In the middle of a joint deal, Nita met Nash, a key member of the future MA organization and a talented geek who was still working as a fixer at the time. The black guy was so impressed by Nita's creativity that he helped Nita make a digital collection of her graffiti and put it up for sale on the dark web, where it became a huge hit, fetching an unexpectedly high price, making the anonymous Nita an underground icon and reached out by art companies. Nita realized that her artistic talent might be an opportunity to break away from the gangs and get a new lease on life. With Nash's help, she sees the light of another path. The two of them start to get in touch more often, and Nita gradually becomes interested in the MA, which is still in the works. Perhaps shortly, she will be able to join MA and start a new chapter in her life. It was on Nash's recommendation that Nita came across the Batman movie series, in which Harley Quinn resonated with her, and she idolized her, gradually moving towards Harley Quinn's style of attire and dress.

As mentioned before, one of the slogans of the Berlichingens is "The Berlichingen is the Robin Hood of the Cyber Age, robbing the rich and giving to the poor". However, what they do is very different from the slogan, these lunatics loot civilians and kill innocents much more than fighting against the Uranus. In some serious cases, they would even go out of the battlefield without authorization, intercepting civilian caravans and ransacking them, and the Bandit Knights are even better than the OGs in this regard. The madmen use "chivalry" as a cover for their self-interest. Although Nita has been a part of it, in her sober moments she feels deep contempt and remorse for such behavior. After honing her skills in the Bandit Knights, Nita has grown into an accomplished assassin. But she has become unable to identify with what the Berlichingens are doing. Especially when she witnesses the dirty deeds of her companions in the course of a mission, Nita's suppressed sense of justice is aroused. Her encounter with Nash, a gifted hacker, and her newfound success in the field of street art opens another door, and Nita realizes that she shouldn't continue to serve as a killing tool for the madmen. So, she begins to contact Nash in secret, plotting to break away from the Berlichingens.

By analyzing the intelligence, Nash orchestrates an operation for Nita to break away from the Berlichingens, which is handed over to be carried out by Eiriksson, a former legendary mercenary, New Ironman Global Champion, Prison Carrier, and leader of the Viking Davidson gang. Eiriksson recognizes the concept of the MA and wants to bring his own men into the fold, but the MA founders believe that he needs to be tested once more before joining the gang. If he can complete the mission without harming Nita, he can prove himself and his team's strength. To avoid angering the Berlichingens and causing unnecessary trouble, the rescue operation, codenamed "Poison Mushroom", will be carried out without Nita's knowledge.

The Berlichingens smuggles Nita into the Kentele Group's home base of Goetsupolis to kidnap Hanssen, a popular physical virtual idol and a star that the plutocrat "Matushka" considers her own. In order to extort a huge ransom from the Kentele Group, who, according to their plan, will give up 50% of her annual income to the Berlichingens. Nita is also a fan of Hanssen, she is very resistant to participate in the operation because she does not want to hurt her idol. Hanssen is actually a powerful biochemical warrior. She may not be able to conquer the big man, she may even be strangled to death, let alone kidnapping. If she dies in the hands of her idols, it would be too tragic. After repeated fruitless arguments, Nita realizes that the only way to save her life is to obey. Berlichingen is too powerful for her to fight against for the time being. Nita has no choice but to accept this risky mission. Unbeknownst to her, the gradually awakening Hanssen also has aspirations to break away from the Uranus’ control. It's all a trap set by Nash, Eiriksson, and Hanssen, who mislead the foolish senior members of the Berlichingens to carry out the kidnapping operation and, moreover, they will do everything in their power to protect Nita.

The action begins! The Bandit Knights launch a surprise attack on Hanssen's residence. However, the exceedingly tight security system and fire-powerful robot guards make it difficult for the gang of punks to resist, and they are hit one after another, falling one by one on the attack road. Amid the smoke, only Nita manages to break into the core area with her agility and strong will. She rushes towards the mission target with determination, because only by accomplishing the mission could she save her life.

Nita navigates her way through the shrapnel and laser beams and finally arrives near the mansion where Hanssen lives. She cautiously looks around, searching for a cover. Thinking about her idol, Hanssen, Nita is terrified but excited. The voice of the operation commander suddenly comes from her headset.

"Hey Mushroom are you still alive? You stupid girl. You rushed to the target area alone, are you trying to be a hero? Or did you simply fail to meet the organization's requirements, so you choose to die to end the pain?"

This insult and ridicule completely ignite the rage within Nita, and she snarls at the commander before throwing her headset into the distance and slamming it onto the ground:

"Fuck you!"

Nita drops her headphones and puts up her middle finger, realizing that she can only rely on herself. With her keen intuition, Nita chooses to go ahead with the plan and complete the kidnapping in one fell swoop. Because it's the only way she can survive in this cruel world.

When Nash hears the grumpy "Fuck you!", he laughs so hard, to an extent that he throws his headset meters away. The real commander has long been taken out by Nash's drone, but he is actually impersonating the commander through an AI voice-changing program, messing up the operation. The Bandit Knights punks have been misled and died. Nita's bravery and recklessness have been right on target. Nash and the others are ready to take over. They are just waiting for her to fall into the trap.

Nash puts away his smile and picks up his headset, "Eiriksson, old bear, are you alive?" "Seems to be. The helicopter the Berlichingens used to pick them up has been knocked out by our brothers, that shit was noisy!" "Knocked off huh? Hurry up and pick the mushroom. She's the only one left, the fire is too strong, I'm afraid the little girl won't be able to hold her own for long." "Silicone Hanssen, can't you just fucking turn off the security system?" "I can't turn it off, the control of that thing is in Matushka's hands. I can't operate it, but I've sneaked up on several robot guards where the cameras can't see them. Otherwise, there would be a lot more firepower out there." "You mama's boy. You broke so many toys. How are you going to explain this to your mom?" "Good idea, just blame it all on the Bandit Knights ......" "Aren't you coming out to meet your little fan? She chased you all the way to your house." "Not this time, I did not fix my hair. It’s a mess. In case of rumors how bad ...... again, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future ah!" "Alright, alright, the old bear will be here soon, see if you can beat up a few more robots, or at least not let them keep charging out". "I'll try... ...... Sorry bro (steel crashing sound, call disconnected)."

"Let's get this over with! Don't make the cops come.”

Nita leans against the fence and the green belt, trying to hide by the blind spot of the fire as she desperately dodges attacks from all sides. Just when she thinks she is dying, Eiriksson arrives on his motorcycle. And, without stopping, grabs Nita with his powerful robotic arm, turns the bike around, and accelerates away.

This move is definitely an even bigger scare to the already panicked Nita, who had no idea who was coming and was stunned for a moment. In her confusion, all she can think about is the bad habits that the Bandit Knights had instilled in her. Unceasingly struggling, string after string of expletives pour from Nita's mouth, incoherently cursing her rescuer ......

"Fuck you! Damn it! You psycho fucking kidnapped me, didn't you, and what the fuck are you going to drag me to?"

"I haven't fucking seen Hanssen yet. Put me down now! I have to see him! Damn it! It took my life to get this close. Urhhhhhh….”

"Where's my gun? My customized gun is worth at least a million dollars, hurry the fuck back and pick it up for me ...... mother fucker!"

"Can you shut the fuck up? This little girl's got a bad mouth. How old are you to swear like that? If you keep talking nonsense, the old bear will raise you to the ditch." Eiriksson, who had been through countless adversities and countless bottles of alcohol, had long been at peace. But under Nita's unfounded abuse, he still couldn't hold his tongue.

Eiriksson and Nita, there's nothing harmonious about this first meeting of best mates. And Nash would have been rolling on the floor laughing:

"This girl is so interesting, I'm afraid she can earn a lot of money as a rapper. When she comes back, I'm going to team up with her for a rap show, ahahahahahaha."

Eiriksson can't help but feel a twinge of pity inside as he carries the cursing Nita and speeds down the highway on his motorcycle. The little girl is about the same age as his own daughter. Because of his alcoholism and imprisonment, Eiriksson's wife divorced him and also took away their only daughter, and he never heard from them again. Thinking of this, Eiriksson's heart cannot help aching, he then earnestly says.

"Chick, I'm sorry, Old Bear knows you're in shock, but it's not right to curse. When it's safe, Old Bear will explain to you."

Nita's reaction stirs a deep softness in Eiriksson. At this moment, he is no longer a legendary warrior and gang leader, but a caring father.

(Excerpted from the casualty list of the Bandit Knights, which is unusually crudely written due to their low literacy level and insanity :) Geoffrey, dead. Walter, dead. Larson, too hurt to save, buckled. Smith, fell in the water, couldn't get it out, hiccuped. ...... "Poison Mushroom" Nita, lost.

Eiriksson takes Nita back to Viking Davidson's camp, and it isn't until she sees Nash that the little girl calms down a bit. Despite all the explanations from both Nash and Eiriksson, Nita throws a long tantrum. Eiriksson buys her many gifts to coax her and even invites Hanson to visit her, but nothing helps. She stays huffy and puffy.

One day Nita saw Eiriksson clumsily fiddling with a table filled with gun components, and she couldn't help but curiously step forward. By just glancing at it, she sucked in a breath of cold air:

"Holy shit, what kind of fucking shit are you doing, come on, come on, let me tell you. I used to sleep inside the armory every day. First of all, your screwing posture is wrong ......"

The passionate Eiriksson likes to put together his own weapons, but none of the guns he put together worked, and no one dares to use them. This time, he is surprised to find that this little girl's knowledge of firearms, as well as the technical level of firearms modification, is breathtaking, and even far exceeds the weapons experts in his gang.

Under Nita's tutelage, Eiriksson assembles a real usable rifle for the first time.

"Chica, you really are a connoisseur!" Eiriksson exclaims heartily. The awkwardness between the two is iced over at the workbench, and a friendship begins. Eiriksson teaches Nita all the combat skills he has accumulated over the years, including bomb-making techniques. Months pass, and Nita's ability to learn new things is so strong that she becomes as good an explosives expert as her father, able to independently formulate a wide range of explosives, make a variety of blasting devices, and use them skillfully in action. But the clumsy Eiriksson's level of gunsmithing is still at a standstill, and assembling a truly usable rifle is at the limit of his abilities.

Nita approaches Nash again and donates a huge amount of digital currency to the forming MA through him. Despite knowing the high black-market price of Nita's work, Nash is dumbfounded and his jaw drops when he sees the little girl's account balance. For a long time to come, this crazy-looking, weirdly dressed, and erratically-behaved little girl is actually the largest shareholder of MA. Although she holds a wealth that is hard to reach for her peers, Nita has a healthy relationship with money. She has understood from an early age that money can't be exchanged for true freedom, and that only by fighting can we defend our freedom. She is ready to defend the curiosity and desire to explore that MA values most. Nita's behavior may seem crazy and unruly, but behind every action is a soul that yearns for freedom. It is this wisdom and idealism beyond her years that makes her the incredible person she is.

Nash puts his expertise to work to help Nita solve the mystery of her origins, and the breakthrough comes in the form of a pendant left behind by her father - a beautiful but dangerous creature: the psychedelic mushroom Nita muscaria, from which Nita takes her name. With the owner's permission, Nash carefully detaches a chip from the pendant, which Nash places into the portable parsing device she carries. A string of data codes flashes rapidly, and gradually takes shape as an AI hologram of a middle-aged man, handsome and well-built, whose face and arms are covered with scars, and whose fingers are mutilated:

"Dear daughter, Nita, I am your father, Klaus, I am sorry I was not with you growing up. By the time you see this, I should be long gone. Please don't be afraid of my scars and the hand that fell into disrepair. It's what I gained in my military career, and what I lost amid my career as a demolitions expert."

"Back when I was a mercenary, I had secretly joined the underground organization against the Uranus. Later, I managed to infiltrate the Thoule Group, applying for the position of demolition expert in the hopes of one day taking down the evil Uranus corporate hierarchy. I'm sure that you've met my friends from the Resistance, and that you've grown up. I'm sorry to say that in order to keep you from PTSD like I had, I secretly gave you a drug the day I left so that you could try to forget the unpleasantness of what happened that day. I'm sure you're strong enough to be open to the truth, and everything about the truth can be found in the Resistance's library of declassified documents if you're interested. So anyway, I'm sorry to have to leave you in such a way."

Klaus's image pauses for a moment, and the effigy of Nita's mother flashes back up next to him. Klaus continues, "Your mother, Grace, I have actually known for a long time that she was a spy sent by Thoule to keep an eye on me. But we genuinely loved each other, and that's what made you come into being. She was forced, and it was my negligence that exposed the Resistance, to my detriment and hers. Grace's alter ego besides being a spy is that of a botanist. She had been researching the hallucinogenic Nita muscaria, and using it as a basis, she developed a compound specifically for me that inhibits PTSD. The drug I secretly gave you that day was the same; your name comes from it."

"The drug is effective in suppressing the effects of traumatic memories and keeping me from having a complete breakdown. I owe her so much ...... Grace had said that in addition to being able to inhibit PTSD, the drug based on Nita muscaria would have the potential to accelerate neural repair and enhance the sixth sense and the power of intention after further development. The Thoule Group wants to use the drug to create future super Cyborg warriors to enhance the demonic Oswin's mental powers for their evil plans. But some technical problems are difficult to overcome, and it's still far from being practical."

"Compared with force, what super warriors need is mental and moral maturity, otherwise they can easily go down an evil path and become a scourge. Grace is unwilling to let the research results be misused, she is intentionally delaying and concealing the development progress. Ask our hacker friend to further parse the chip. Besides what you are seeing now, it also contains the secret of the Nita muscaria, one of the top secrets of the Thoule Group."

"I have long entrusted everything to you, my dear daughter. You must have a heart that yearns for freedom and will not be corrupted by power, and I trust you to give the secrets to the right people."

"Go and use your mother's legacy to help your friends in the Resistance stop the Uranus from destroying the world. I believe in you. I've always been proud of you. Goodbye, my beloved daughter. I'm sorry for all the years you've suffered."

The images of Klaus and Grace fade away. The unruly Nita is in tears as she solemnly accepts the gift and the will.

Standing aside, Eiriksson quietly turns away and wipes the tears slipping down his beard as he murmurs, "Don't worry, Old Klaus. I'll protect her for you, just as I would as my own daughter.